IMPOSSIBLE TO GATHER UP AND DESTROY

 
The story is told of a woman who was given to spreading scandals about others, that one day she made the confession to a priest of what she had been doing. The priest gave her a thistle top and bade her go in various directions and scatter the seeds one by one.

Though surprised at the penance, she obeyed and carried out this bidding. When she returned to him, he, to her great bewilderment, asked her to go back and pick up all the seeds that she had scattered. She replied that it was impossible for her or anyone else to do so.

The wise priest then instilled into her mind the fact that it would be more impossible to gather up and destroy all the evil reports she had circulated about others.